For my recovery group assignment, I attended a group for the diagnoses of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and eating disorder NOS. This is a partial hospitalization group, meaning the members attend 7 hours a day, Monday through Friday. The group was composed of about 15 individuals. It was an adult group, which included ages from 16 to 55. The group was all females, although the leader told me there is one male who usually comes, but was not present that day. The group was located in Hershey, but one person drove 2 hours to attend, while other members tended to be from Harrisburg, Lancaster, or Hershey.
The part of the day that I observed was the group led by an occupational therapist. It was a task activities group that focused on selecting, preparing, cooking, and eating different foods. Each week, the members of the group vote on which food they would like to make. There are always multiple options to go along with the food, such as toppings. Each member makes an individual serving of the food, and it is exchanged in their meal plan to be part of their lunch. The occupational therapist introduced the task and organized the supplies. The members made the food however they wanted, and then while it was cooking, they filled out a paper about their anxiety towards preparing and eating the food. Next, a discussion of anxiety and coping mechanisms took place.
I observed that the members of this group were very close. They spend all day together throughout the week and have gained closed friendships. They all offer support to one another. When one woman was extremely anxious about the selected food, everyone else in the group offered encouraging words of support and told her they were all in it together. Most of them used the coping mechanism of constantly reminding themselves that everyone else is going to eat the snack, this shows the power of the group dynamics in helping them reach milestones.
During the meeting, I mostly just observed, although I did introduce myself and make side conversations during preparation. I think it was more beneficial for me to be observing, so the group felt comfortable with all members.
I think this meeting was extremely helpful to the participants because the snack was rice krispie treats, which most of them admitted they were terrified of due to the amount of sugar involved. However, the occupational therapist broke down the nutritional values and explain how their body needs the energy and carbs. The fact that they can substitute the snack in their meal plan and it is not extra is also helpful to encourage food variety without the worry of extra calories. I think making snacks in a group like this is very therapeutic for the members and helps them to associate something positive with food.
This experience really connects to the information about support. The people who are in this group could not go through this journey alone. What I observed also related to the fact that an addiction affects the brain. So many women described the eating disorder or eating disorder thoughts as taking over and not allowing them to eat things that they want to eat. They truly saw it as something taking over their mind and changing their typical thinking. Overall, I think observing a group was a great experience for everyone in the class to meet people who truly struggle and see just how hard it is to break an addiction, even a behavioral one. It was inspiring to see how hard these women are working and it really makes me appreciate the road to recovery.
